Wahconah's Kaley Birdies Last Hole to Win Berkshire Classic
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. -- Tim Kaley finished five strokes ahead of most of best high school golfers in Berkshire County.
And one stroke ahead of the guy he really wanted to beat.
Kaley, a sophomore at Wahconah, carded a 4-over round of 75 on Sunday to win the Berkshire Classic.
His closest competition? His playing partner for about half the high school dual meet season, Wahconah junior Pat McLaughlin, who carded a 76 to give their team a sweep of the trophies at the 14th edition of the Classic.
"I had Max [Shepardson of Lenox] come up to me on the 18th hole and say, 'Your teammate shot a 76,' " Kaley said. "I said, 'Well, I'm 5 over right now. I've got to birdie the 18th hole.'
"All year, he's been getting me. When I think I'm playing really well, he gets me by like one or two [strokes] or we tie every single time. It definitely feels good to get him by one, finally, because he's been beating me all year."
It's a friendly competition and a beneficial one for Wahconah, which went 14-0 in dual meets and will spend the next week tuning up for the Western Massachusetts Division 2 tournament on Oct. 18 at the Ranch in Southwick.
"In the last week, [Kaley] was right with [McLaughlin] the whole time," Wahconah coach Pete Terpak said. "As a golfer, when you play with better talent, you raise your game.
"I know Pat was the odds on favorite, probably, to win this, but Tim's been playing fantastic golf the last two or three weeks. He's put in a lot of time and effort all summer. So I'm happy for him. This is incredible."
As was the case most of the fall, the county was chasing Wahconah on Sunday.
In addition to Kaley and McLaughlin finishing 1-2, the team put four players in the top 10 with Vincent Scalise carding an 88 to tie Hoosac Valley's Frank Field for 8th and Brady Breitmaier placing 10th out of 24 finishers with a 90.
Lenox, the defending Western Mass D3 team champion, burnished its reputation going into the Oct. 17 sectional at the Country Club of Wilbraham with a trio of players in the top six.
Lenox's Shepardson took third place with an 80. His teammate Cliff Flynn was right behind at 82, and Devan Patel was part of a trio that tied for sixth at 87, along with Mount Greylock's Thomas Art and Owen Petropolus.
75
Tim Kaley, Wahconah.
76
Pat McLaughlin, Wahconah.
80
Max Shepardson, Lenox.
82
Cliff Flynn, Lenox.
87
Thomas Art, Mount Greylock; Devan Patel, Lenox; Owen Petropolus, Mount Greylock.
88
Frank Field, Hoosac Valley; Vincent Scalise, Wahconah.
90
Brady Breitmaier, Wahconah.
91
Hunter Shepardson, Lenox.
93
Joey Abderhalden, Lee.
94
Tom Dunham, Wahconah; Cam Laferriere, Taconic.
95
Noah Kirby, Lenox.
96
Ian Capiello, Hoosac Valley.
97
Ben Dingman, Mount Greylock.
99
Easton Anello, Wahconah; Jacob Hillman, Mount Greylock.
100
Greg Kay, Monument Mountain; Ian Mack, Monument Mountain.
101
Zach Mungeon, Hoosac Valley.
105
Jackson Mollier, Taconic.
109
Camdyn McKillop Taconic.